Two men sentenced to life in prison for murder of Henry cousins

Vinod Gopaul and Anil Sancharra were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for the murders of Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry.

Gopaul, dressed in a blue long-sleeve shirt and black pants, and Sancharra, dressed in a white jersey, appeared in the Berbice High Court before Justice Simone Morris.

In June 2026, a jury found the men guilty of killing the cousins.

Charged with the murders are Akash Singh, called “Monkey,” of Zeelugt Squatting Area, East Bank Essequibo; his stepbrother, Anil Sancharra, called “Dan Pole” and “Rasta,” of D’Edward Village, West Coast Berbice; and Vinod Gopaul, called “Magga,” of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne.

The trio is accused of murdering the teenage cousins between September 5 and September 6, 2020, at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice.

When the matter came before Justice Simone Morris at the Berbice High Court, only Sancharra and Gopaul were called upon to stand trial. Singh was admitted as the prosecution’s main witness.

During the trial before a 12-member jury, State Prosecutor Marisa Edwards called approximately 45 witnesses, including Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, 16 police officers, and relatives of the deceased teenagers.

Earlier in the proceedings, Akash Singh testified that he, Sancharra, and Gopaul killed Joel and Isaiah after the teenagers allegedly discovered a marijuana farm in the backlands that had been sprayed. However, when they took the stand, both Sancharra and Gopaul denied any involvement in the murders and rejected Singh’s testimony.